Pictures of the Past
by Eulphy Whitlock-Lupin
Summary: 'There was something familiar about that guy. She has to know. It's like an itch between her shoulder blades, one she can't reach. She doesn't like it. So she'll definitely find out what it is... even if she has to rip that damn mask of his face.' But it seems that all it needs is the Pictures of the Past to unbury the answers to her question.


**The Idea just won't leave my mind. I'm so sorry. It just… it's killing me. I really mean it. It's like this small virus that started out with **_**Connected**_** by Umi Amano and proceeded to **_**She's Inaho**_** and now, **_**Pictures of the Past**_**. And I'm also finishing Little Brothers.**

**Ugh! I'm really fired up about Inaho-san. And I also got this inspiration to write about those in the background. **_**Little Brothers**_**, my new fic, is about Tsutsumi and Inaho having a talk about their Little Brothers.**

**Golly gosh! I'm sorry!**

**Pictures of the Past**

**An Inaho and Sylvan Story**

Inaho Azuma was polishing her prized motorbike, slowly and gently and quite unlike the impulsive woman she really is. Cleaning Tetsuko # 3 has always helped her think. It gave her this inner peace of sorts that people would get by meditating under a gushing waterfalls or something alike.

And currently, Inaho _needs _to think.

Big Time.

Her brother and his friends had stayed with them for a day in Gifu. He had just won that big time match that was shown nationwide in the TV. He had only spend the rest of the day with them for a while and baked them the bread that had just won him and his team the biggest Bakery in Japan.

But that's not what's disturbing her mind. It was nice seeing her brother again in personal, yes. She really missed him. Seeing his face on the TV and the newspaper really isn't the same as in personal.

And darnit, she really missed that damn Bread addict of a brother of hers.

Annoying or not, she really does.

But that was not why she was in the secluded part of their home, wiping non-existent dirt on her precious baby. It was just… just something she can't understand. There was something wrong with her, she knew that. Ever since her brother's battle with this blonde lady-lookalike guy with a mask, she's got this niggling feeling, like an itch between her shoulder blades that she just can't reach.

She did **not **like that feeling. No sir, she sure doesn't.

She was sure she knew him. Perhaps he was someone from her past. But with that damn mask getting in the way, she just can't be so dang sure.

Inaho stood, clenching the rag she was using to wipe Tetsuko # 3 and thought back to that time he stood next to her brother – near her – after the match. He congratulated Kazuma on his win, letting his smooth voice resonate her ears. She had stood on the side, forcing a grin on her face as she tried to stop herself from stomping to where that guy was and snatching his damn mask from his face and to see what is hidden there.

She _really _needs to figure out who that damn man is.

With fervor, she threw the rag on the ground and got on her bike. She grabbed the helmet strapped onto the handle and with a kick of her feet, drove at her starting speed, 85 km/h. Aside from cleaning her Tetsuko # 3 and spending time with it, driving around calms her down and helps her think.

It was one of the reasons why people look at h strangely and sees her as reckless. She loves the feel of the win brushing her skin, the thrill of the fast ride and the danger of it all.

And now she just proved that she really is a basketcase.

She had done one lap around the fields before returning home and lying perfectly still underneath the _kotatsu_ in their home. For once, she wasn't in the mood for riding. That damn person, whoever he is, is destroying her perfectly balanced speedy life. She has to know who he is, why his very presence irks her, and what his role in her past is.

And damn it if she doesn't find out who that damn guy is soon, she'll go batshit crazy… er. Crazier.

"Gaaaaah!" She suddenly let out a scream. "This is annoying me!" She scratched her head, willing her mind to recall who he is. She knows that she's not the sharpest tool in the box, but she has to do this.

She curled, hugging herself and glaring at nothing in particular. "Whoever you are masked man, I will find out! I, Inaho Azuma, shall not rest until I figure out your identity!" She suddenly jumped up after this declaration, unknowingly tugging herself and tangling with the cloth used on the kotatsu. She fell down in tangled form, face first.

"Ugh." She let out a groan, rubbing her sore nose. "Damn, fate's not with me today. Hey, Fate, at least be kind to me and give me some sign that I'll know who that guy is. Please!"

And then, she let her head fall again. "Dang, now I'm talking to myself."

Suddenly, her phone rang. The theme song of _the Fast and the Furious _rang. She grumbled a bit and with a little twist and turn, she managed to upright herself enough to get her phone from her pocket.

"Yo, Inaho here, who's this?" And she plopped herself back down.

"_Eh, Nee-chan?" _It was her brother's voice.

"Yeah. What's wrong?" She asked, fully sitting now.

"_Er, I'm in sort of a stitch here and I need you help. Ehehe…" _Her brother's sheepish laugh followed that declaration.

Instantly, Inaho's big sister instinct kicked in. "What?" She asked, her posture ready to run to her bike and ride to Tokyo like a bullet train would.

"_Eh, um, don't worry much, Nee-chan." _Kazuma said and she could already picture him sweating and waving his hand as a sign of 'No, don't do it, Nee-chan'. _"See, I forgot to fill out this form and I need my birth certificate for that. And I guess Kuroyanagi-Oji … eto, Onii-chan said that it also need my Guardian's signature. So, can you come to Tokyo and fill it up. I also left my birth certificate there. Ehehehe…"_

With every passing word that left her brother's lips, the vein on Inaho's head grew bigger until it just popped. "YOU STUPID PAN-ADDICT!" She yelled. "I thought I told you to finish up all the necessary paperwork!"

"_Yeesh, Nee-chan, I already said I'm sorry." _And she could just picture his pout.

She let out a sigh of resignation. "All right. Wait for me there, okay?"

"_Really? Yes! Thanks a lot, Nee-chan." _And with that, he hanged up.

"Yeah, yeah…" Inaho muttered. "Yeesh. Honestly, that kid." But she still stood up and went to their shed were most of their things were stashed. But as she searched boxes after boxes for her brother's birth certificate, a thought came to her.

_Is this… Fate's way of saying that I'll know who that guy is._ With that thought she brightened up. She stood up and pumped her fist. "Yesha!" And with her actions, she accidentally pushed an old bike causing it to fall on a plank of wood and it to hit something on the top shelf of an old bookcase. That something fell down and, ever curious, Inaho proceeded with caution to it.

It was an old photo album, covered in dust and grime and cobwebs. She blew onto it causing the dust that had built up to fly to her face. She coughed and fanned her hand to keep the dust away.

_Dang, Good Luck and Bad Luck! What do you really want, Fate?_ But when she was okay and she opened the old album, what she saw caused confusion to build up.

"Is this… my high school photo album?" She asked to herself. Wiping away the a few dusts here and there using the hem of her shirt helped her see that _yes, _it is her old high school photo album.

She sat on the ground, the album on her lap and her brother's birth certificate temporarily stashed on the back of her mind. She flipped it, page after page. She saw herself with that short hair and that wide grin. She looked at her picture with Minami and some with the rest of her classmates. She saw her with the baseball team. She saw a picture of a motorbike, Tetsuko # 1, the very motorbike she had only dreamt of back then.

And she saw a picture of her and this blonde guy with soft feature and prominent light blue eyes. She saw another picture of him in a butler suit and her in her biker suit. Her eyes widened.

It's **Him.**

MHIHIM_HIM!_

"HIM!" She shouted in shock. On the picture is the very guy who is the source of her annoyance. With newly gained adrenaline, she took out the photos with him on it, flipping page after page. There were only 8 of them. And she grabbed every one of them and flipped them. There, on the back part, she had written captions as per usual.

_Shi-san and I, on the rooftop. 'Waah! The feel of the wind up here is great!' _It was of them eating lunch on the rooftop.

_Cultural Festival: Shi-san's helping the 3-C out so much. He baked this bread that is on par with that man from St. Pierre. _This one is the Cultural fair

_Shi-san said that he doesn't know how to ride a bike, so I'm teaching him. _A picture of him trying to ride a bike with some of the guys from my old biker gang on the background.

_Shi-san said that he doesn't get to see actual Japanese sunset. So, I gave him the best view. _This one had a picture of Shi-san, or whatever, with small traces of tears on his face and the scarlet sky as his background.

_Shi-san's farewell party. Oh, come on! Don't go back to France just yet._ This one had a bunch of streamers and the guy, Shi, and the rest of their class.

_Hah! You don't mess with Inaho, Shi-chan. _This one had her and Shi with grin on their faces and smudges of icing on their forehead, nose, cheeks and chin.

_Here in Tokyo. Minami-chan and I are sending him off. Bon Voyage!_ This had the three of them with the busy and loud airport as the background.

The last one caught her by surprise. Instead of her handwriting, this one was more elegant and some strokes were done like a real calligrapher. _Inaho-san, I practiced well on writing this. So, I simply want to say, I'll be back. Remember, I promise you that the sun may set in the west, but it will still rise again to the east. I'll come back. I need to rise again, after all. –Sylvan Kirisaki_

"Oh, well, damn." It was the only thing she could say. Her head dropped on her hand and she massaged her aching temples.

She recall now.

Back in her last year in High School, nearly eight years ago, there was a foreign exchange student from France whose name she can't pronounce properly (Shirivanu, she always called him) and soon, she gave up and just called him Shi. He was so dang quiet and a little shy. Minami, her friend, was assigned to show him around school. And she just couldn't help but befriend the weird foreign boy. Their friendship was brief and short. He only stayed in Japan for three months, after all. Nevertheless, it was meaningful.

"Damn." She moaned, scrubbing her eyes which, by now, had filled up with tears. And all she could say was, "He was my first kiss."

She looked at the last photo, the one where he had written his last note. It was a surprise shot, she remembers now, taken by Minami. They were in the airport and he suddenly climbed on a railing and leaned down to capture her mouth. And then, he promised her he'll come back. She remembers now, how that picture was sent from France to Japan a month after he left.

She let out a sigh and compiled all those pictures of her and him. Honestly, she tried to argue with herself that it's not her fault she'd forgotten about him. Hey, it's not like her memory is _that _good. He's the one who should know that. And there's the fact that he's hiding behind he's damn mask. How the hell was she supposed to know it was him?

"Ah, dang, my argument is destroying my brain." She moaned out. But then, looking back at the picture, a new resolve burned inside her. She was going to Tokyo to settle things with him.

And she'd be damn if he doesn't have a good excuse for fulfilling his promise.

She stood up with the pictures she'd gathered. She clutched it close to her chest as she ran back inside the house. Really… sometimes the buried chest of memories can be unlocked by pictures of the past.

**~FIN~**

For now…

**-Omake-**

As soon as Inaho burst inside the branch of Pantasia her brother works in, determined to know where the hell she can find Sylvan Kirisaki, Kazuma had glomped her quickly.

"Nee-chan!" He cried out in relief. "Thank goodness you're here. Do you have my birth certificate?"

And with that, she became stiff. "Uh? Your birth certificate?"

"Yeah. That's why I called you, remember?"

"Er… I may have forgotten it. Yeah…. Ehehehe…" She mumbled out, adding that same sheepish laugh her brother uses and rubbing the back of her head just as he does.

"**Nee-chan!"**

**-AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

**Hi, so, people **_**hate **_**AN. I'm one of 'em too. But, I just want to know if it's okay and if I should post a sequel or the stories behind the pictures. Okay, that's all.**

**Watch out for **_**Little Brothers, **_**okay?**


End file.
